Thank You For Arguing Analysis

Rhetoric is a course in which students are taught the values of persuasion. And yet, behind this course is the utmost power to corrupt the world, changing it into a world of our own policies. This power, even though seldom discussed, has lead to many intriguing discoveries. One such discovery is how people are able to shape the world they live in simply by choosing the right words. Therefore those who would want the world to be a better place must protect this power. If in the wrong hands this power could cause serious damage. Several authors have striven to protect rhetoric and its power. Few agree on the matter of defining rhetoric, but they know that they must protect rhetoric from dark souls. A single definition of rhetoric must maintain a simplistic nature while incorporating every aspect of rhetoric. However, I argue that rhetoric is a means of persuading audiences of a situation and a particular reality through language and personal appeal. In order to prove this definition I will discuss how rhetoric creates a situation, the shaping of a different reality, the audience, the use of language, and the personal appeal. Finally, I will demonstrate the absolute need for rhetoric.

“Thank You For Arguing” is a novel written by Jay Heinrichs . In chapter 1, he repeatedly refers the word “Rhetoric” and how it is the motivation of the affect, the bond, and the power it has on persuasion. In this chapter the author lays out the basics of his personal life at home. Jay explains how he quit his job to be a stay at home writer. He made a deal with his Wife, Dorothy, that he would do the cooking and take care of their 17 year old son George. This is because Dorothy returned to her full time job. As the chapter goes one we learn from Heinrichs that arguing is very similar to the matrix and its manipulative ways. We also are provided with the history of persuasion, many well known people and even the Bible used the art of persuasion.

The novel Thank You For Arguing written by Jay Heinrichs teaches us the persuasive tactics behind an effective argument. Heinrichs emphasizes the importance of rhetoric by adapting persuasive tools to modern day situations. A former journalist and now an advocate for rhetoric, Jay Heinrichs has aimed to restore the art of persuasion by teaching it to his audience.

In Thank You for Arguing, written by Jay Heinrichs had introduces to the reader about the rhetoric concepts and strategies that give us to understand more about offense and defense in an argument. He is not just to explain the concepts to the readers for how to build up a stronger argument but to make the readers to know what purposes that argument puts in our lives. Although rhetoric tools is hard to fits in our everyday life, Heinrichs still would help us to gain more ability on utilizing the knowledges of the rhetoric concepts, and convinces us to influence on our behavior that act in the argument.

Five time New York Times bestselling author and Canadian journalist Malcolm Gladwell, is no stranger to brilliant rhetorical writing. English teacher Tom Bissell of Portland State University, is not either. Both Gladwell and Bissell have selective and dynamic use of rhetorical strategies in their writing. Although Gladwell is clearly the more accredited wordsmith, this does not translate to the fact that Bissell’s writing is not as persuasive. The rhetorical strategies used by each author are not similar, but are both equally as effective in persuading their audience.

“I changed my mind because of your argument”, said no one ever. Even when provided damning evidence and masterful techniques of persuasion, people are far too prideful to admit aloud that they were wrong. However, with time and thought, minds can change in the silence of one’s head. Often the only way to even convince people to even change their mind silently is to provide a multifaceted and quality argument. But how can you ensure an argument is of high enough quality that it will likely change minds? You must measure it’s through a multi-step analysis. A rhetorical analysis. A rhetoric analysis is a process by which a piece of writing is measured on “how tactically is applies pathos, ethos, and logos”, and how effectively it panders to

Web. 19 Apr. 2016. . Weida, Stacy, and Karl Stolley. "Using Rhetorical Strategies for Persuasion.

Often times in daily life, a person will use rhetoric. Whether it’s arguing with a sibling or the sound of an alarm, rhetoric is in use. Rhetoric is effective persuasion and persuasion is swaying someone to do or believe in something. The reason rhetoric is important to be taught in school is because not only does it often show up in daily life but it can show up in the media as well.

Rhetoric can be found almost everywhere in life, and is an important part of people’s interactions with each other. Specifically rhetoric has value in career settings and being able to make a sound argument can be especially important when dealing with employers and clients. Building a relationship with a boss is especially important, which Jay Heinrichs discusses in his book, Thank You for Arguing. Heinrichs recalls a job interview, and how one othe the

What constitutes good rhetoric and argument? How do these factors affect writing? And, the aforementioned questions considered, what practices should then be regarded as bad, or the negation of good? Before these prompts can be adequately addressed, a brief survey on the nature of values is necessary, so as to enframe this discussion of good and bad practices in operationalized terms, localized for our usage. In the process, the prompts will be considered in full.

Gerard A. Hauser covers a plethora of details on how to create a well-made persuasive argument in his book, an Introduction to Rhetorical Theory; however, he covered three specific essentials that are necessary for persuasion: the components logos, pathos and ethos; purposive discourse and rhetorical competence; identification. I will argue for each constituent, respectively, to prove that persuasion cannot thrive without the aforementioned essentials.

The first chapter introduced the reader to the art of rhetoric. He describes how rhetoric works through real life examples. He demonstrates ways that rhetoric persuades us like, argument from strength, and seduction. He tells the reader that the sole purpose of arguing is to persuade the audience. He showed that the chief purpose of arguing is to also achieve consensus, a shared faith in a choice.

The book is divided into five sections, each one being subdivided into different strategies on how to use rhetoric to your advantage, in any given situation.

In today’s age, the use of persuasive rhetoric is everywhere. The most recognized use of rhetoric today is through political propaganda. Politics are confusing to many people and disliked by many more. The reason for this is because politics are often misleading. “Political speaking urges us either to do or not do something: one of these two courses is always taken by private counselors, as well as by men who address

Rhetoric is a significant part of our everyday lives. Whether it's convincing our friends to go to a concert on the weekend, to go to a certain place for lunch, or even convincing yourself to do something that you should but don't want to do. Rhetoric is all around us today. Billboard ads, television commercials, newspaper ads, political speeches, even news stories all try, to some degree, to sway our opinion or convince us to take some sort of action. If you take a step back to look and think about it, rhetoric, in all actuality, shapes our lives. Every day we have an array of options of things to do or things to buy. So every day, our opinion or actions are being influenced, however minutely, by rhetoric.